Weekly Comments 12/14/14

This week i was happy to finish my project early, and i got a really cool effect with one of my parts that i didn't even intend to happen.

I was frustrated to find my dog desecrating another grave, this time of my iguana....

I learned that there's another weird genre of music that exists for some reason, it's called Dark Wave and it's strange to say the least

I want to learn how to make explosion effects, but that's not happening until after Christmas Break.....

http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/124798-sharknado-3-and-demonic-teaser-posters-revealed

another installment in the best, most logical movie series is coming soon...

Pendelton Ward and adventure time

This article talks about Pendleton Ward and his hit cartoon Adventure Time. Although having a smash hit cartoon with millions of hits and more merchandise than imaginable Ward was actually unhappy with life. He felt the show was taking time from his life so he decided to step down from begin in charge. A lot of what of the bad going on with him was present in the character and the ice king but at the same time the good things were present in Finn.

It is definitely interesting to see what's going on with the creator of Adventure Time bt i was also kinda sad. Being at the top of an empire but also having it crush your life is harsh and i hope he eventually steps back up to leader of the show

CGI and Practical effects

    This article talks about the differences between CGI and practical effects in movies. For example in Jurassic park you can tell the T-Rex is actually with the actors, rather than being put in during post production. Jurassic Park and movies before it relied on practical affects because CGI wasn't invented yet. After it's introduction arguments began over which form of effects was superior, but according to 2 authorities in practical effects Rick Baker and Tom Savini CGI and practical effects are actually better as a team and together can create even better movies.

   As someone who actually enjoys both forms of effects it was nice to see someone who matters in the field of effects who says that both forms work together perfectly instead of being conflicting alternatives and  i didn't actually know that the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park weren't CGI.... and that's actually all I have to say as far as an opinion goes.

Weekly comments 12/7/14

 This week I was happy that I got to decorate for Christmas at my house.. even if me and my mom were the only ones who wanted to.

I was frustrated when adobe premiere decided my text path wasn't worthy.. so it deleted it and forced me to make it again.

I learned how to make it rain in adobe premiere with the particle system and pictures of dollar bills, so that was fun

I want to learn how to get a "free" version of Animate Pro ...hint, hint...

  http://www.siliconera.com/2014/08/29/super-smash-bros-director-finding-balance-fun-complexity/
Sakurai talks about complexity of making smash bros perfect

The growth of the animation industry

This article talks about the rising of the animation as an industry and an art form. Animation wasn't really taken serious in the film industry until about 2002 when Shrek was chosen as the first winner of the Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards until then animations could only be honored under the Special Achievement Award and until about this time Disney was the only major animation studio. Animation can make big bucks because it has something for all age groups, it's not just for kids or for adults. The article also states that the box office success of animations are what cause the sudden outbreak of job positions and the number of positions is expected to rise as the years go on.

It's nice to see how animation grew from this thing only certain people could do to something anyone could do and be successful in (with practice). That's why i like this article, it gives the history of animation's growth in a brief reading. I didn't know Shrek was the first movie to win  the Best Animated picture Award, I was expecting a Disney movie...

5 techniques for dynamic cinematography

 This article is a list of tips and techniques for making a more dynamic movie. Some of the techniques it gives are use high contrast lighting which can add depth and make your film look better overall, Focus (shallow depth of field) which give it a more natural look, like how our eyes naturally perceive things, parallax which adds kinetic energy, and occlusion which is just simply that things that pass in front of our view block out things farther in the background.

This is nice in that it gives advice from director Matthew Rosen in the video and expands on techniques below it so that it could be read and understood better. I like the advice this give and will have to take it into consideration when the time comes to make films in class( i kind of wish i had this during filming for the documentary....)

weekly comments

 This week i was happy to actually finish the Documentary project.... it was a close call.

I was frustrated when my computer crashed and i had to redo one of my blog post, it was pain to retype it all

I learned that rendering in premier is a horrible thing and i wish it was faster, 30 minutes for a 7 minute video is not okay....

I want to learn to make explosion effects, it looks like fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th_LYe97ZVc
for FNaF fans

Big Hero 6 soft robots possible?

 This article takes a sciencey look at Baymax, the soft robot protagonist of Big Hero 6. The creator got the idea after visiting a robotics museum and seeing a soft robotic arm. While Baymax may still be a thing of fiction, it will be possible for a humanoid soft robot in the future.

  I didnt even know robots couldn't just be all metal. The fact that a soft robot in a fictional movie could eventually be real is definitely a cool thought and i really want to see it happen... mabye just like Baymax?

Interstellar Science

   This article talks about the making of the black hole amd other science in the movie Interstellar. Science and art come together once again to create something awesome. The extinction scale event causing everyone to leave Earth is an invasion of a blight fungus causing crop to fail and was inspired by The Dust Bowl in the depression era. The space travel in the movie is possible, but wont happen for a while. The coolest part was the black hole, working together with a real astro-physicist the artists were able to create a realistic black hole that looks as awesome as it sounds. They were even able to accurately create what the affects of surviving a black hole would be.

This is another awesome example of how science and art can work hand in hand to create something cool. The black hole creation looked sooooooo cool but i would never want to do that much math...ever. The wormhole thing was cool too but was out shined by the black hole in my opinion. I liked the science of the space travel and i really want to experience it for real before i die. Overall it was just awesome.

Weekly comments 11/02/14

This week i was happy to make a successful last minute Halloween costume, it was effective in scaring many people.

I was only frustrated when my tutorial in premier kept becoming corrupt and i had to redo it.

 I learned  that dead batteries make any toy creepy, i put some in my ROB last night and woke up with his arms pointed at me like he was trying to escape his cabinet and get me.

I want to know how to get Premiere for cheap... instead of for multiple thousands of dollars.

 http://laughingsquid.com/dont-hug-me-im-scared-3-a-darkly-humorous-film-that-cautions-against-accepting-love-from-a-stranger/
Everyone should watch these weird videos....

Dreamworks tips for storyboardind

   This article is a simple guide to making a better storyboard with advice from some of the employees at Dreamworks. It gives tips like avoid flat staging, use grids to ground characters, use over the shoulder shots with reactions to show emotion, and motivate cuts.

 It's definitely interesting how much impact a storyboard can make on a film, and how much can go into making it perfect. Even simple things are important in building it and this article thankfully gives us all of them.

Horror Movie Phsycology

    This article/ video was about the psychology of why we watch horror movies. According to this article our fascination with horror goes back to our evolutionary instincts of survival and our natural fear of animals over people, objects, and landmarks explain the shapes of the monsters. Our fears could be explained by Freud's theory that our interest is in the "uncanny" or Aristotle's theory that scary stories give us a chance to purge our negative emotions bu these theories are incomplete. Recent studies show we watch for four reasons; gore watching, thrill watching, independent watching, and problem watching.

    This article looks at horror movies in a way we usually don't, which is cool. It shows us the reasons we watch horror movies like letting us face our fears without actually confronting them and tht we like to identify with the victim/ hero, or the killer. Its cool that the reason that we love horror is that it goes

Weekly comments

-This week I learned that checking The Salvation Army occasionally is a good idea, i found a couple of cameras, although none to the standard of the class, there could be some in the future.

-Speaking of The Salvation Army, i was happy to find ORIGINAL BOXED NES GAMES....IT WAS SSOOO COOL(plus they were only 2 dollars a piece so that was cool too.)

-I was frustrated when i went back the nest day to find the other unboxed games were sold....

-I want to learn how to use the cameras.(but that's tomorrow, so that's good.)

-In the spirit of Halloween here's something interesting http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2011/10/28/63-mindblowing-halloween-pumpkin-carvings-picture-gallery/

showing dominance in movies

This article talks about how you can show dominance in scenes just by using simple methods with eye-lines, camera angles, and POVs. A movie that exhibits this best is The silence of the Lambs.One scene in particular that showed this was the face off with Lecter and the FBI agent. One part in this scene that was significant was Starling standing over Lecter showing her dominance and the close up of Lecter vs. the medium shot of Starling showing fear.

Although short, this shows us how simple camera tricks can change mood or which character seems in charge of the shot. Cool to know for making movies.

Bubble physics in 3D animation

This article talks about Ron Henderson's help with bubble physics in the new Dreamworks movie, Home, Ron Henderson was a teacher at Caltech University before coming to Dreamworks to help calculate the math behind a proper bubble animation. There he worked with the animators and a team of scientists to help the movie look more life-like in its physics. He studied the  actual physics of bubbles in there own sort-of lab in the studio. They even had scientists and animators work side by side to get proper animation of things like trees, the bubles, and other things help the completion of this movie.

This is a pretty cool thing to read about. I like seeing that scientists were working together with the animators to get the perfect animation....I wish he had scientists when we made our 3D shorts.... This is cool in that it not only shows how people more inclined to using their left brains and those more inclined to using their right brains can come together to make something great. Also this shows how something as simple as a bubble floating can take a team of physicists to get right.

10 insights from Nicole Herr

This article is an interview with Nicole Herr about her a career in animation done by Animation Mentor. She was asked about things like her inspiration to become an animator, her favorite shot she worked on, and deadlines for animation shots.
    This is interesting in that it gives us some insight to the career of Nicole Herr's career. Like most people, it seems she was inspired by Disney to animate, but i guess that's understandable. It's cool to here from someone who worked on Game of Thrones and Guardians of the Galaxy considering how they are pretty famous in pop-culture right now.

Ian Bowden's tips for game artists

This article talks about former Rockstar artist Ian Bowden, who has now moved to a smaller company called Gameduell. He gives tips for aspiring game artists such as be original but don't stray too far from the trends, quality is always important, even on mobile platforms, and always be ready to draw with a sketchpad in hand.

It's definitely interesting to hear tips from a RockStar artist, and also very helpful considering my career choice is in videogames. Hearing advice from someone this important in gaming is really cool to Me, considering I've played alot of RockStar games and want to make games. His,advice was mostly new but there we're a few things in there that I've actually already heard. In conclusion it's cool to hear advice from him and also pretty helpful.

weekly comments

This week I learned that recording sounds in an old building might yield.... unexpected result...., i had to get rid of one of my recordings because a growl appeared on one of them and ruined it, luckily i had more than one recording of the sound

I want to learn how to amplify the recorder so maybe i can get some more..unexpected result( i mean ghosts), when i want them

I got frustrated when the owner of the Wurlitzer building wouldn't let me make a documentary about the ghosts there.... seriously, he swore at me.

I was happy that Smash Bros for 3DS was released, AW YEAH.

http://www.wired.com/2013/11/simpsons-math/ link of interest.

Movie Science

This article talks about how movies manipulate the way we think while we watch them. Scientists studied groups watching Iron Man 2 and their studies show that our brains makes us unconsciously focus on the action, in this case the fight in the beginning. The director knew about this science and used it to create the scene in the best way that would focus on the action.

This was interesting to read, while short this article said alot about how we think. According to this our brains like to focus on only the action and nothing else. I never knew that but it kinda makes sense, in Spiderman 3 I only focused on things like the fight between Venom and Spiderman, and in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the scenery was never more than empty rooms or sewer during a fight. Anyway this article was interesting and taught me something new.

Weekly comments 2

This week i learned the warp text tool in photoshop and after a little playing around with it i think i got it perfected in my head.

I want to learn an easier way to make a mask in photoshop than painting it in, it gets a little bit tedious.

I got frustrated when i kept losing the masks when i left quick-mask mode, but then i figured it out later

I got happy when my R.O.B. arrived in the mail and i got to play Gyromite the right way.

Color Importance in films

These two videos showed how colorizing works in films and it's importance. The first one(http://nofilmschool.com/2014/09/colorist-really-films-video-takes-look) shows a side by side comparison of different film pieces and how changing the coloring a little bit  changes the mood and desirability of the segments, The second video(http://nofilmschool.com/2014/09/pixar-supercut-will-remind-you-how-important-color-storytelling) shows how different colors on the spectrum affect the mood of a shot, like red making things ore intense or blue giving a more calm look.
   These videos are cool and provide a unique look into a lesser known component of film, colorization. This will be helpful for when we begin filming later in the year.

Travis Knight and modern stop motion

    This article is an interview with Travis Knight, the animator behind Coraline and ParaNorman and his new movie The Boxtrolls. In the article he talks about his new movie and how he is trying something different from his previous horror-esque movies. The Boxtrolls takes more of a comedic approach and tries for whimsy over creepiness. He also talks about how he makes his movies by combining CG with stop-motion animation.
     This is a cool interview and taught me that using clay characters and toys aren't the only way these movies are made( and also the Tim Burton didn't make ParaNorman). I honestly would have never thought 3D printing was used to make stop motion films. It proves there are some other good stop motion film makers besides Tim Burton and Seth Green.

Weekly Comments 1

This week i learned birds are jerks, i tried to pet one and it started pecking at the cage with every bit of energy in it's tiny body.

I would like to learn to train them because owning a talking bird seems fun.

I got frustrated when I went to the Devil's Hole in the Niagara Gorge and found out the way up was harder than the way down... gravity sucks sometimes.

I was happy when i got my first eBay account and started bidding on R.O.B. for the NES

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsvYuSgEtSsKwujETtrazyVVfZ-fkSFxb
this take an interesting look on cartoons

Micheal Moore's 13 ways to make a better documentary

     This article is a recap of the thirteen ways to make a better documentary as said by Micheal Moore at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival. Some of the points he makes include make it funny, make it personal, and make sound a top priority.
     These points are things i wouldn't have thought of to make a documentary better, and therefor will be helpful. I agree with these points and think that there are some documentary makers who could use this advice, especially on the history channel. I hope to use this advice in the future if we make documentaries in class.

The rebirth of 2D animation

    According to this article a few of Disney's veterans including James Lopez and Rick Farmiloe will gathering together to make a new completely hand drawn 2D animation. They brought it to Kickstarter to bring the movie to life and they more than reached their goal of 80,000$. The steampunk animation will most likely be out within 5 years depending on how fast they animate.(yes, that is an estimate)

The movie looks like a solid idea and seems like it will be very entertaining. Bringing the idea to kickstarter was definitely a good idea since they past there goal by a huge amount and hopefully all the extra cash they raised we'll see some extra things come up, maybe merchandise? a sequel? Anyway that extra money is utilized I'm sure it will be as awesome as this movie will be. I have to go with what the author of the article said adn say this might very well bring a renaissance of 2D animation.

Test post

This is the test posr

Final blog

1. Why did you take this class?

I took this class because I really want to get into animation,and character development/ game development after college.

2. In general, what did you like most about this class?

I really liked the fact that I got to,meet people who have the same sort of interests as me, and the Skills USA competition was pretty fun.

3. In general, what did you like least about this class?

The math, it's all fun and games until the the math comes.

4. What was your most favorite project and why?

3D short,  it gets really close to the type of animation I want to do in the future and it was fun to make models.

5. What was your least favorite project and why?

Rotoscoping, I could handle the tedious frame by frame easily but having to constantly region because I couldn't get the "paddles" to stay still enough to get a proper template for the animation because of the wind.

6. Discuss the overall effectiveness of the instructor (for example: preparation, availability, interest, content knowledge, expectations, etc.).

My instructor was pretty effective, always there when help,was needed and always able to fix the problems we had.

7. What are the most valuable things you learned in the class?

The most valuable things I learned we're 3D animating and how to tween in flash, it saved alot of time

8. Do you feel that this class will help you achieve your future academic or career goals? How or why (or why not)?

I feel it will help,when moving up to college because I learned most of what I'll need and it will help in game design after college.

9. How could this class be
improved?

It would help to spend a little more time in 3D animation.

10. Additional comments:

I had alot of fun in this class and it will be hard to wait for next year.

I hope I can see some of the friends I made in college and afterwords too.

Videogames and anatomy

I didn't know the biologists are seeing videogame character evolution the same as natural evolution

I didn't know we could subconsciously recognize human figure

I didn't know game creators made faces from just,a skull

I think this is informative to game designers who are making human like figures

There actually wasn't alot that I didn't know in this article

What else on game design

YouTube cartoons

I didn't know, Cartoon Hangover was owned by the creator of Dexter's Laboratory

I didn't know going online instead of on-air can create fans quicker

I didn't think YouTube could be more effective for cartoonists than television itself

This article definitely make me more confident about how my series will end up on YouTube

I think based on what I read alot of cartoonists will move to the internet for game rather than television

I wonder how long it takes for a series to become popular online?

Weekly comments

I was happy this week to get my new gecko, his name OS charizard

I was angered when Maya wouldn't cooperate so I have to redo my animation in,2D

I want to learn to fix the Maya problems for the future

Here's a video for fans of pixel art
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OI09cO5i0UE

Movie Cliches

I didn't know black and white movies we're a cliche

I didn't know cannibalism was a cliche,i barley see it in movies

I didn't know filmception was even a thing and that it,was common

This will definitly help in making videos in the future

I think this is a cool and helpful article

Is there anything for comedy cliches?

Pixar's new style?

I didn't know Pixar is still trying to,perfect animation, it seemed like they had it down already

I didn't know you could animate in oil paints like Aleksandr Patrick

I didn't know there are still new rendering styles being discovered

I think it's fascinating that Pixar, the company that perfected 3D animation is still trying to find new ways to animate

I think this new,style could be really cool and even be the next big thing in animation

Is there anything else on this new style of animation?

Weekly comments

This week I learned boa constrictors can actually be pretty friendly if raised correctly

I want to learn how to get paid from YouTube

I was happy when I found an old animation toy in my grandparents basement

I was frustrated when I was stick watching the puppy with a huge.pile of homework that I also had to do

http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse590b/04au/maya_fur_tutorial.html

DIY film studio

-I didn't think to put external storage devices in a safe

- I didn't think to use ankle weights to strap down equipment

- I didn't think to use cardboard to block light

-I will need to use this advice, but first I need a garage. ..

-this is a cool article that will help for making videos on YouTube

-What type of cheap cameras Could i get?

Animate like Pixar

-I didn't know color coding parts of creatures could make them easier to animate

-I didn't know,waiting to add complex components could speech up the process

-I never thought to use other animators work as a template for my own

-these bits of advice are very helpful, especially number 9

-l like how short it is, very to the point and doesn't waste time with filler

- is there any more advice from Pixar animators?

Weekly comments

This week I was happy when I got to go bowling with my dad on Friday

I was frustrated to have to walk to tops to get a redbox movie

I learned how to lucid dream

I would like to learn how to figure out im dreaming faster so it doesn't start like the last one ...

Creating purgatory background at home

° I didn't know something like this could be homemade

° I didn't know something homemade could look professional

° I didn't know you could use a normal lightbulb to achieve the look

° I think this,will be helpful next year in video production

°this article will help save money later on in life

°anything else on homemade equipment?

Creative peoples actions vs non creative

°I didn't know creativity goes beyond the left/right brain idea

° I didn't know us creative types are more complex than normal people

° I didn't know all these things we're signs of a creative person

°I thought it was cool how during feeding this I realized these are things I do

° I think that if my siblings read this they might understand why me and my friends do these things

° What else on the actions of creative people

Weekly comments

This week I was happy to get a new puppy, named nala

I,was frustrated when my brother dropped my sega Genesis\CD and it almost got broke

I learned that it's not easy to alphabetize games for 7 consoles

This will be interesting for comic readers http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/between-panels/entry/comics-propaganda-captain-america

Academy award voters and animations

° I didn't know so many people we're ignorant towards animation

° I didn't know animations we're more successful than live,action films

° I didn't know the rest of Hollywood doesn't care about animation

°this kinda made me mad, it's alot harder to make an animated film than a live action film

°I think more people need to consider animation while voting

°how has the world come to,a point where the harder work gets less recognition?

Future of filmmaking

° I didn't know people thought video games would make movies obsolete

° I didn't know game making techniques were used in film making

° I didn't know characters in movies could be given,an AI so they wouldn't need to,be manually controlled

° I like this article, it shows some cool connecting between the making of games and movies

° I liked it by the end but it was kinda boring in the beginning

° I wonder though, how many other similarities will develop between games and movies in the future?

Weekly comments

This week I learned how dangerous living in old property can be, my house's electrical box started to overheat and almost caused a fire

I was happy to find out how I could reduce the price of my iguana cage by replacing plexiglass with screen

I was angered when I couldn't beat the completely unfair final boss in One Piece Romance Dawn

I hope to figure out how to fix the lighting in my 3D short on Monday

Directing comedies

-I didn't know the director of wedding crashers wasn't inherently funny, it's hard to believe smarter watching his movies

-I didn't know comedy requires drama to work

-I didn't know laughing at your own jokes on set is bad, I would have thought it means it's really funny

-this will definitely help in making funny animations, it's all good advice

-I think it's cool to get this,advice from,a real director of comedies

-is there any more advice by directors?

Lego movie article 2

-I didn't know CGI lighting was as difficult as lighting in a real world movie

-I didn't know they used real life cinematography examples for lighting

-I didn't know they had to switch renderers during the production

-I think the part about not rendering what you can't see is helpful for doing my animations

-I think that this is cool and reveals the difficulties of lighting animations

is there anything else on lighting?I seen to be having difficulties

The Lego movie

I didn't know the whole movie wasn't shot with just legos, it fooled me

I didn't know the submarine was intended to look bad

I didn't know fan made Lego movies we're used as reference for the movie

This definitely told some cool things I didn't know about the movie

I think this was a cool article

Anything else on stop motion?

Weekly comments

°this week I learned I am allergic to ginger, it sucks having a food allergy

°I was angered when I found out about my allergy

° I was happy that I got to,see the Lego Movie

http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/1194-Enhancing-Your-Rigs-with-Driven-Keys-in-Maya

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2

°I didn't know it took so long to make environments

°I didn't know rigging the strawberry's mouth would be so hard

° I didn't know the design was based off a Childrens book

°I thought this was cool and reveals the developers thoughts about the movie

°I thought it was cool that we hear ,the developers thoughts about the movie

°Anything else on this movie?

Introverts in animation

° I didn't know what an introvert was, a shy person

° I didn't know someone who keeps to themselves could be so helpful

° I didn't know Einstein was an introvert

° this article is cool and shows how shy people can be helpful

°based on this article I think introverts need to be in animation more

°what else on these topics?

Weekly comments

This week I was happy to see my iguana, Godzilla grew a little but

I was angered to see my cats terrorizing Godzilla

I learned that running across a street while it's slippery is not a good idea of you don't like to slip

I would like to learn to make human characters on Maya

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fHzftzCDm3A

Getting a career faster

°I didn't know just by using twitter or other,social websites you could learn about a company

° I didn't know watching the movies I like and reading their scripts could help me in making an animation

° I didn't know internships could help in getting a career

°This info will be helpful when getting a job

° I think this was interesting and helpful

°does this apply to the game design career?

Sleepy hollow vfx

° I didn't know you could use green screen on only one part of the body

° I didn't know over 500 VFX shots we're used in that one episode

° I didn't know it could be so difficult to turn a model to dust and rocks of disintegration

°this article is interesting and reveals the amount of CGI that could go into some episode of a TV show

° I thought it was a cool article to read

°Any other articles about shows?